ESF Earth Lecture Series Kicks Off for Second Year

First-year experience eases transition for new students9/9/2014

The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry First-Year Experience Lecture Series is back for the 2014-15 school year. The Earth Lectures, part of ESF's First-Year Experience, are based on the success of last year's inaugural effort and are designed to help new students transition into the ESF community by providing a group of presentations dedicated to any and all things Earth related with topics coming from several ESF departments.

The lecture series kicked off Sept. 3 with a program titled, "Earth: Making A Home On Turtle Island," presented by Dr. Robin Kimmerer. Kimmerer, a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Environmental and Forest Biology and a member of the Potawatomi Nation, has extensively studied the relationships between indigenous and scientific ecological knowledge. Her lecture focused on myriad ways we can view planet Earth and the importance of combining our traditional and modern knowledge bases to help inform and advocate for ways to improve our relationship with the natural environment.

The spirit of the year-long lecture series is intended to provide students an opportunity to gain insight into issues pertinent to the environmental field. Scott J. Blair, ESF's coordinator of academic success and new student programs, who led the development of the lecture series, said that the lecture series was designed to "find a way to unite the campus and for students to be exposed to certain environmental problems they can advocate for."

Students who attend the lecture series benefit in other ways. "The lecture series gets a lot of disciplines involved, which helps students get more connected with pertinent issues on and off campus," Blair said. The series also "gives our ESF faculty a platform to showcase their work to our students and community," he said.

The next lecture, titled "The Sixth Extinction," will be presented by ESF President, Dr. Quentin Wheeler. It will be held during the College Hour, 12:45 to 1:40 p.m., on Oct. 8 in Rooms A and B of the conference center in the Gateway Center. , For more information on the lecture series, contact Scott Blair at sblair@esf.edu or stop in his office in 110 Bray Hall.